News items related to ag tech, biotech, trade ? and perhaps some other interesting items out there related to agriculture ? will be posted on this page throughout the week (as the week progresses newest items will be in?green at bottom of sections). ?Be sure to come back and check the page during the week.
TRADE, TRADE RELATED, INFRASTRUCTURE:
TPP chief negotiators to meet in Japan in mid-July – The Japan Times / Kyodo (May 30)
“The planned meeting comes after the trade ministers of the remaining 11 TPP states agreed May 21 to complete preparatory work by November to quickly put the deal into force.” – Link
Pressing need to conclude RCEP as soon as possible – The Star (Malaysia) – Opinion by Mergawati Zulfakar (May 29)
“The deadline to conclude RCEP has been postponed thrice and that says a lot about the progress.” – Link
Trump criticizes German trade surplus, again – New Zealand Herald / AP (May 28)
“Trump is not the only leader to criticize Germany’s trade surplus. Then-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy said last year that it wasn’t good for the eurozone economy.” – Link
East Africa: EAC-Europe Trade Deal Signing Put On Hold – allAfrica / The East African (May 27)
“East African heads of state have jointly agreed that the EAC members who have not signed the European Union-EAC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) should not do so pending clarification of contentious issues that have been highlighted in the agreement.” – Link
Sen. Grassley: Locking the barn door on NAFTA won’t create jobs or prosperity – Fox News – Opinion by Sen. Chuck Grassley (May 26)
“World trade brings a rising tide of prosperity, lifting more people than ever into the middle class.” – Link
EU, US to set up joint task force to make progress on trade in Trump era – EurActive – By Daniela Vincenti (May 25)
“The European Union and the United States agreed on Thursday (25 May) to set up a joint delegation to increase trade cooperation, after the EU-US free trade deal negotiations were put on ice with the election of Donald Trump.” – Link
Wilbur Ross says he’s ‘open to resuming’ talks on mega-trade deal with Europe – CNBC – By Lori Ann LaRocco (May 30)
“”It’s no mistake that, while we withdrew from TPP” ? the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact with Pacific Rim nations ? “we did not withdraw from TTIP,” Ross said.” – Link
AG, AG TECH, PRODUCTION, PROTECTION, RELATED ISSUES:
RESEARCHERS TEST SELF-DESTRUCTING MOTH PEST IN CABBAGE PATCH – Associated Press – By Mary Esch (May 29)
“It’s a pesticide-free attempt to control invasive diamondback moths, a voracious consumer of cabbage, broccoli and other cruciferous crops that’s notorious for its ability to shrug off every new poison in the agricultural arsenal.” – Link
Sustainability myth: Stanford misleads students about organic farming?s reduced environmental impact -?
“To have raised all U.S. crops as organic in 2014 would have required farming of 109 million more acres of land. That is an area equivalent to all the parkland and wildland areas in the lower 48 states, or 1.8 times as much as all the urban land in the nation.” – Link
POLICY, REGULATORY, ACTIVISM, OTHER:
When ?Organic? Food Isn?t – National Review – By Julie Kelly (May 25)
“The organic industry has long peddled the myth that its food is healthier and better for the environment. Consumers buy organic because they wrongly believe it?s grown locally and without pesticides. Now there are serious questions about whether most of the pricey products labeled by our government as ?organic? actually are.” – Link
Tanzania: Govt’s Pledge On Availability of Seeds – allAfrica / The Citizen – By Zephania Ubwani (May 29)
“The move is aimed at enabling seed traders from the private sector supplied with improved varieties directly from the agricultural research centres unlike in the past.” – Link
GM mustard?s a major step forward – The Hindu BusinessLine – By CD Mayee (May 30)
“It?s safe, it?s effective and it?s swadeshi, and the sooner it?s approved, the better for our farmers and scientists” – Link